WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants - travolekar.ru

Radix Panacis Quinquefolii
to be drawn. Further randomized controlled clinical trials with larger
populations of patients with diabetes and better methodology are needed
before therapeutic recommendations can be made.
Uses described in traditional medicine
Used orally as a diuretic, digestive, tonic and a stimulant (5, 6, 23). Used
to enhance stress resistance, and to treat cough, loss of appetite, colic,
vomiting, insomnia, neuralgia, rheumatism and headaches (5, 24).
Experimental pharmacology
Antihyperglycaemic activity
Intraperitoneal administration of an aqueous extract of the root exhibited
significant hypoglycaemic activity in mice with alloxan-induced hyperglycaemia
when administered at a dose of 10 g/kg body weight (bw)
(p < 0.01). Activity-guided fractionation of the extract led to isolation of
three glycans, the quinquefolans A, B and C, which displayed significant
hypoglycaemic activity (p < 0.01, p < 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively) in normal
mice and in mice with alloxan-induced hyperglycaemia at a dose of 10, 100
and 10 mg/kg bw, of quinquefolans A, B and C, respectively (17).
Antioxidant activity
The antioxidant activity of a root extract containing 8% ginsenosides
was assessed in the metal chelation, affinity to scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-
picrylhydrazyl stable free radical, and peroxyl and hydroxyl free radical
assays. Dissociation constants (Kd) for the extract to bind transition
metals were of the order of Fe 2+ > Cu 2+ > Fe 3+ and corresponded to the
affinity to inhibit metal-induced lipid peroxidation. In a metal-free linoleic
acid emulsion, the extract exhibited a significant concentrationdependent
(0.01–10 mg/ml) mitigation of lipid oxidation as assessed by
the ammonium thiocyanate method (p 0.05). The extract also showed
strong 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity up to a
concentration of 1.6 mg/ml (r 2 = 0.996). The extract also inhibited the
non-site-specific deoxynucleic acid (DNA) strand breakage caused by
Fenton agents, and suppressed the Fenton-induced oxidation of a 66 Kd
soluble protein obtained from mouse brain over a concentration range
of 2.0–40.0 mg/ml (25). The free radical scavenging capacity and antioxidant
effects of the crude drug appear to be related to the concentration
of ginsenosides Rb1 and Rb2 in the plant (26).
The effect of saponins, isolated from the root, on the oxidation of lowdensity
lipoprotein (LDL) was measured. The potential of the saponins for
reducing LDL oxidation as well as limiting the ability of oxidized-LDL
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